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Tyler, the Creator
Tyler, the creator yler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), commonly known by his stage name Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, record producer, and music video director. He rose to prominence as the co-founder and de facto leader of the alternative hip hop collective Odd Future, and has performed on and produced songs for nearly every Odd Future release. Okonma has created all the artwork for the group's releases and has also designed the group's clothing and other merchandise. Following a large contribution to Odd Future's early work, Okonma released his debut solo mixtape, Bastard, in 2009. After releasing his debut studio album, Goblin, under XL Recordings in April 2011, Okonma signed a joint venture deal for him and his label Odd Future Records, with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment. Following that, he released his second studio album, Wolf, which was met with generally positive reviews and debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 90,000 copies in its first week. His third studio album, Cherry Bomb, was released in 2015, debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200. It received positive criticial reviews but a polarizing reception from fans. In 2017, he released his fourth studio album, Flower Boy, to widespread acclaim. It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, becoming his highest-charted album to date, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2011, Okonma started the clothing company Golf Wang. In 2012, he began hosting an annual music festival named the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival. He created his own streaming service app named Golf Media; it ran between 2015 to 2018 and contained original scripted series from Okonma himself and the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival was annually streamed on the service. Early life Tyler Gregory Okonma was born on March 6, 1991 in Ladera Heights, California, the son of a Nigerian father of Igbo descent and a mother of mixed African-American and European-Canadian descent. He never met his father and spent his early life living in the communities of Ladera Heights and Hawthorne, California. At the age of seven, he would take the cover out of an album's case and create covers for his own imaginary albums—including a tracklist with song lengths—before he could even make music. At the age of 14, he taught himself to play the piano. In his twelve years of schooling, he attended twelve different schools in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. He worked at FedEx for just under two weeks, and Starbucks for over two years. Okonma took his stage name from a MySpace page he used to post his creative endeavors. Career Okonma co-founded the alternative hip hop collective Odd Future in 2007, alongside Hodgy, Left Brain and Casey Veggies. They self-released their debut mixtape, The Odd Future Tape, in November 2008. On December 25, 2009, Okonma self-released his first solo mixtape, Bastard. The mixtape was eventually ranked 32nd on Pitchfork Media's list of the Top Albums of 2010.needed On February 11, 2011, Okonma released the music video for "Yonkers", the first single from his debut studio album, Goblin, which was released May 10, 2011. The video received attention from several online media outlets. An extended version with a third verse was made available on iTunes. Okonma won Best New Artist for "Yonkers" at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Okonma's thematic content in these first two solo projects led fans and publications alike to categorize him in the horrorcore scene, although he vehemently rejected his connection with it. After the release of "Yonkers", Okonma announced that he had signed a one-album deal with British independent label XL Recordings. Okonma and fellow Odd Future member Hodgy Beats made their television debut on February 16, 2011 when they performed "Sandwitches" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On March 16, Okonma and Hodgy performed "Yonkers" and "Sandwitches" at the 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards, being joined by other members of Odd Future during "Sandwitches". During an interview with Okonma for Interview, Waka Flocka Flame expressed his interest in collaborating with the Odd Future frontman to direct a music video for him. In early 2011, Okonma told fans through his Formspring account that his second album would be called Wolf and it was scheduled to be released in May 2012. Okonma also announced that Odd Future would establish their own TV show called Loiter Squad. On September 8, 2011 that the show was finally confirmed as a 15-minute live action show composed of various sketches, man on the street segments, pranks and music made by Odd Future. Dickhouse Productions, the production partnership that created Jackass, was scheduled to produce the show. Personal life Okonma has identified as an atheist and has had explicitly anti-religious lyrics in his music, especially on the albums Bastard and Goblin, and has also said some things that suggest he is an agnostic atheist. Okonma has a love for skateboards and bicycles. Lyrics on the album Flower Boy led to speculation that Okonma was coming out as gay. The tracks in question were "Foreword", "Garden Shed", and "I Ain't Got Time!" Okonma further fuelled the discussion when he seemingly revealed in an August 2017 interview that he had a boyfriend when he was 15 years old, though he later tweeted that it was a figure of speech. Discography Tyler, the Creator discography|Tyler, the Creator production discography. Mixtapes * Bastard (2009) Studio albums * Goblin (2011) * Wolf (2013) * Cherry Bomb (2015) * Flower Boy (2017) Collaboration albums * The Odd Future Tape (2008) (with Odd Future * Radical (2010) Odd Future * The OF Tape Vol. 2 (2012) Odd Future * WANG$AP (2018/2019) A$AP Rocky Filmography As director Music videos Awards and nominations Category:West Coast hip-hop rappers Category:New school hip-hop Category:2010's rappers Category:Alternative hip-hop Category:Satirical rappers Category:American hip-hop Category:American rappers Category:African American rappers